Review of Iron Man Mark VI, War Machine
Walmart Exclusive Action Figures

Introduction

I've had quite a few friends - people who are not uber-geeks, just regular, dull folk - ask me the same question: what's the big movies for the summer? They honestly want my opinion, because from what they can tell, there aren't many.

And they'd be right on that score. Summer of 2010 is not going to be anything like summer of 2009, when a solid blockbuster was hitting every weekend. There's a few I'm really looking forward to, but for every Toy Story 3 or Shrek Forever there's a Marmaduke or Cats and Dogs 2.

But this might just be a lack of hype, which can be a very good thing. Sure, the aforementioned Toy Story 3, the latest Twilight and Shrek 4 are getting hyped, but other potentially great films like The Last Airbender (oh, please M. Knight don't botch this one), Despicable Me, Jonah Hex, and Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World are all movies I plan on seeing at the theater opening weekend, with high hopes of great entertainment, and none are getting much press yet.

The summer film season really kicks off next weekend with the release of Iron Man 2, and early reviews are already starting to hit Rotten Tomatoes. There's nothing surprising there though, with the early number around 80% positive and most reviewers admitting it's not as good as the first (ah, the sequel's curse).

The toys haven't done much to wow folks yet either, although there are a few of the 4" figures that are terrific. I think most folks are just overloaded with that scale at this point, and are waiting for something fresh.

Who would have thought that the 6" scale would ever be 'fresh'? But with so few movie related releases in that scale the last couple years, collectors have been thirsting for its return. Hasbro is doing it up with a series in this size for the new movie, and the first two have started hitting Wal-marts - War Machine and the Mark VI suit.

These aren't cheap at $13 each, and they are Walmart exclusives, so if you hate shopping at that store you're a bit out of luck.  There are some more coming out in this style, including a great looking Mark I.

Packaging - ***
These are standard bubble/card back designs, with a little text and reasonable if not outstanding graphics. They are very similar to the first film, and I would have preferred if they'd been able to give us something a little more unique. Still, it's serviceable, and if you don't mind tearing up the package to get to your toy, you shouldn't have any issues with them.

Sculpting - ****
We've only seen brief snippets of these figures on screen so far, but if the actual armor looks anything like these figures, they'll be outstanding.

The armor sculpts on both are exceptional, and the heavy, thick plastic they've used gives the figures the sort of heft you expect. Nothing hollow or cheap feeling here!

The armor has also been designed and sculpted in such a way as to maximize the posing potential, interfering as little as possible with the added articulation.

Both figures stand just a hair over 6" tall, and should fit in great with your Marvel Legends from both Hasbro and Toybiz.

Paint - ***1/2
Both figures also sport exceptional paint jobs. There's not a ton of detail, but what's here (like the silver piping on the Mark VI) is very clean and neat.

I particularly like the gray metallic look of War Machine, and this realistic paint scheme really looks good when posed alongside the brighter reds and golds of the various Mark suits.

I did knock off a slight bit because the power sources on both are stickers, and these don't look as good as they should. While other tampo work (like the numbers on the shoulders of War Machine) are great, these chest stickers look exactly like that - stickers.

Articulation - War Machine ****; Mark VI ***1/2
Again, War Machine outdoes his partner by a smidge. They articulation is similar on both, but there's a couple key differences.

Iron Man has a ball jointed neck, but because of the armor design, you're not going to get much side to side tilt action out of it. However, it does turn well, and tilts forward and back.

He also has pin and post ball jointed shoulders and wrists, as well as double pin elbows, giving his arms a terrific posability. To aid further, the shoulder armor is articulated with a pin style joint so it can lift up and allow the arms to be raised above the shoulder plane.

He has an ab-crunch joint, but no waist joint. This ab-crunch does allow the torso to turn, but because of the armor design, the torso tilts backward at an odd angle as it does. There's the usual pin/post style ball jointed hips with a post on both sides of the ball, so that the thigh can also turn inward and outward. The knees are double pin joints, and even the ankles might be ball joints. They feel like it, but the armor restricts pretty much all the movement to just turning and a very slight tilt back.

Iron Man can take very natural poses, but I did find that the left shoulder pad liked to pop off while I was moving the arms. No huge deal since it pops right back on, but a minor annoyance nonetheless.

You can take everything I just said about Iron Man, and duplicate it for War Machine with a few enhancements. He also has the articulated shoulder pads, but neither popped off no matter how much posing I did. He has similar joints on the armor covering his hands, so that it can be pushed back out of the way for posing or swapping hands.

While he has a similar ab-crunch joint, his armor design allows for his torso to turn cleanly, making slightly off center poses look much better.

And finally, his shoulder cannon adds all kinds of articulation points to the score. In fact, it's more poseable than the head! It tilts back and forth, turns on a post, and even tilts side to side!

Both figures stand great on their own in many, many cool poses - even the most serious joint junkie should have no complaints here.

Accessories - ***1/2
Unlike many other $13 or $15 action figures these days, these two have a reasonable number of extras.

Both figures come with two extra sets of hands. These are sculpted in fists, grips or firing poses, and swap quite easily. Each has its own wrist peg, and considering the scale they are pretty sturdy.

Iron Man also comes with an external weapon that snaps on his forearm. This blaster is spring loaded, giving him a bit of an action feature. It fires a doopy looking (possibly glow in the dark) hunk of plasma energy. Like most action features, it's pretty weak, but may amuse a 7 year old for 30 seconds or so.

War Machine has a couple additional snap on pieces. There's a chunk of armor that can be removed from his left shoulder, and the smaller multi-barrel gun can be attached. There's also an ammo clip that can be attached to the side of his larger gun and then to his back. However, you may skip this one since it's tough to keep in place and it restricts the mobility of the gun itself.

And remember that big gun? Yep, it's not only articulated, it can be removed! It snaps off the back, or slides from one shoulder to the other. How's that for multi-purpose?

Fun Factor - ****
If you're looking to pick up some GREAT Iron Man action figures for your average 7, 8 or 9 year old to play with, grab these. Now. I suspect that with both kids and collectors responding to them, they won't last too long on the pegs.

Value - **
Thirteen bucks for a mass market Walmart toy? Okay, I get it with DCUC - they don't have the kind of production run of mainstream lines. But how much more mainstream can you get than Iron Man 2? If any line is going to sell well this season it's this one, and the inflated price smacks of Walmart getting greedy.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing! These are sturdy, well built toys - they can hit the sandbox or stand proud on the display shelf equally well.

Overall - War Machine ****; Mark VI ***1/2
Have you been jonesing for a great looking movie Iron Man to add to your Marvel Legends display? Then look no further - these guys are perfect.

The price tag is going to cause some to pause, and it should - things are starting to get ridiculous, and I'm not sure many properties are going to be able to bring in this sort of cash. But at least these two are outstanding figures, and once you have them out and on the desk, you'll forget all about the pain of the price.

I do like War Machine slightly better, but that has a lot to do with the coolness factor. There's just something about the design of the armor and weapons that really works for me.

They are doing some others in this scale, and I'm really stocked for the Mark I now. That's another terrific looking design, and I won't be able to pass up a well executed 6" version.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ****
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - Mark IV ***1/2; War Machine ****
Accessories - ***1/2
Fun Factor - ****
Value - **
Overall - Mark VI ***1/2; War Machine ****

Where to Buy 
These are a Wal-mart exclusive, so right now that's your best bet. Expect to pay a whopping $13 a pop.

Related Links -
Other Iron Man reviews include:

- the only other IM2 review so far is the Kotobukiya ArtFX statue.

- and if you're looking for even better Iron Man figures and money is no object, check out the Hot Toys Mark I, Mark II and Mark III. They'll be doing a whole host of figures based on the new movie as well!

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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